The invention relates to a hearing/speaking configuration which is designed for wearing on a person""s head, which has a housing and a sound-reproducing means accommodated in the housing, and which has a sound-receiving means.
Such a hearing/speaking configuration has been marketed, for example, by Ericsson under the type designation HBH-10, and is therefore known. In the known hearing/speaking configuration, a so-termed boom is provided which has a microphone as a sound-receiving means in the region of its free end, as a result of which the microphone is located at a relatively large distance from the loudspeaker which is accommodated in the housing which is provided as a sound-reproducing means, and which constitutes a noise source for the microphone, and the microphone is located as close as possible to the mouth of a person when the known hearing/speaking configuration is seated on an ear of this person, something which is favorable for good sound reception. However, the presence of the boom leads to the problem in the known hearing/speaking configuration that the hearing/speaking configuration has a center of gravity situated relatively far away from the ear, so that in some situations of usexe2x80x94for example whenever the known hearing/speaking configuration is being used while a person is walkingxe2x80x94the known hearing/speaking configuration may easily become displaced relative to the ear, and may even become detached from the person""s ear as a result of the impact forces acting on the hearing/speaking configuration while the person is walking. Furthermore, the microphone in the known hearing/speaking configuration is located relatively close to the mouth or to the nose of a person, as a result of which there is a relatively high sensitivity to air currents which are caused by the mouth or the nose.
The invention has for its object to avoid the problems indicated above and to create an improved hearing/speaking configuration.
In order to achieve this object, inventive features are provided in a hearing/speaking configuration in accordance with the invention such that a hearing/speaking configuration in accordance with the invention can be defined as follows:
A hearing/speaking configuration which is designed for wearing on a person""s head, which has a housing, which has sound-reproducing means accommodated in the housing, and which has sound-receiving means, wherein the hearing/speaking configuration is designed without a boom for the sound-receiving means, wherein the sound-receiving means is accommodated, as is the sound-reproducing means, in the housing, wherein the housing has at least one first sound passage opening and at least one second sound passage opening provided at a distance from the at least one first sound passage opening for the purpose of cooperating with the sound-receiving means, wherein the sound-receiving means has directional characteristic with a main direction and an extinction direction, and wherein the sound-receiving means and the at least one first sound passage opening and the at least one second sound passage opening assume relative positions with respect to one another such that the extinction direction of the directional characteristic of the sound-receiving means is directed substantially toward the sound-reproducing means.
The features in accordance with the invention achieve in a structurally simple and moderately priced way that the hearing/speaking configuration in accordance with the invention can be of a particularly compact design and that the design without a boom for the sound-receiving means renders it possible to realize a center of gravity which is situated as close as possible to that region in which the hearing/speaking configuration in accordance with the invention is connected to a person""s head. This ensures, virtually in all situations of use of the hearing/speaking configuration, i.e. even during walking as described above, that the hearing/speaking configuration in accordance with the invention is always acceptably seated on a person""s head and, in particular, on a person""s ear. A further advantage is that the sound-receiving means is located relatively far removed from a person""s mouth and nose such that a hearing/speaking configuration in accordance with the invention is relatively insensitive to air currents caused by a person""s mouth or nose. In the hearing/speaking configuration in accordance with the invention, it is advantageously ensured that a sound output from the sound-reproducing means, which could constitute a disturbance for the sound-receiving means because of the compact structural design, cannot lead to any disturbing effect in the region of the sound-receiving means because the sound-receiving means with its directional characteristic is situated in the extinction direction in relation to the sound-reproducing means.
It may be mentioned at this juncture that the directional characteristic of the sound-receiving means can be formed by a cardioid characteristic or a supercardioid characteristic or a hypercardioid characteristic, or else by what is termed a figure eight (8) characteristic.
In a hearing/speaking configuration in accordance with the invention, it has proved to be particularly advantageous when the features in accordance with claim 2 are provided in addition. Such a design has proved to be particularly advantageous with regard to an effective cooperation with a person""s ear, and with regard to as simple and compact a structural design as possible.
The above and further aspects of the invention will become apparent from the embodiment described below and are explained with reference to this embodiment.